7 comments:

What bothers me is that a guy who personally benefited in a huge way from Social Security has so little gratitude to the Americans in earlier generations who fought so hard for social justice and social insurance programs. How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.

I can see how southern neo-confederates have infiltrated the GOP but I dont look at Ryan as a neo-confederate... how do we look at this Irish Catholic from Wisconsin? My guess: Anarcho-Libertarian? How does a Midwest Irish Catholic make it over to Anarcho-Libertarianism?

I dont see the Bishops weighing in again this close to an election, which is sad...

So the GOP currently is dominated by a 2 part coalition of southern Neo-confederates and Anarcho-Libertarians?

What a sick coalition, I dont see how this can work politically... looks like a permanent minority status for the GOP unless they can purge these elements....

Matt, What a sick coalition, I dont see how this can work politically... looks like a permanent minority status for the GOP unless they can purge these elements....

But that's a hefty portion of the GOP now and two of the chief constituencies, along with the white working class — with some overlapping, of course. But who else but the ownership class is the GOP appealing to. The ownership class isn't large enough to win majorities in elections so they need a coalition. This is the coalition they ended up with, which is the logical outcome of Nixon's Southern strategy, morphed into Pat Robertson-Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition and Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority, the Jesus-wants-you-to-be-rich mega-churches, the pro-life aka anti-abortion movement, and Grover Norquist's anti-tax movement that attracted the anarcho-capitalists.

"Also, thank you for helping us secure this beautiful room. As you can see, we have filled it with people who want to celebrate the life of Ayn Rand. [Ed: MORONFEST!]

Paul Ryan: Good morning everybody. Nice to have you here. This looks just like my living room at home. It's beautiful, isn't it? My constituents know otherwise.

I just want to speak to you a little bit about Ayn Rand and what she meant to me in my life and [in] the fight we’re engaged here in Congress. I grew up on Ayn Rand, that’s what I tell people ..you know everybody does their soul-searching, and trying to find out who they are and what they believe, and you learn about yourself...."

Compare this with this scripture:

"Beware that no one shall be despoiling you through philosophy and empty seduction, in accord with human tradition, in accord with the elements of the world, and not in accord with Christ" Col 2:8

Especially when Ayn rand's teaching is diametrically opposed to that of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. There is just no way to reconcile these views of self-interest versus altruism. Rand knew this, of course, and was quite upfront about it publicly.

It's really not a matter of "reason" as Rand claims, in the name of Aristotle. Aristotle's Ethics as well as his views about human nature are also opposed to Rand's views.

The difference is not a matter of reasoning but a disagreement over fundamental norms — values and moral standard.

But even as a matter of reasoning, Rand comes up short. The wise who are considered teachers of humanity did not recommend virtue arbitrarily, but rather because virtue as human excellence leads to a balanced life both individually and socially, while the pursuit of narrow self-interest leads to individual imbalance, class privilege, and ultimately social chaos, as history shows in so many cases.

On the other hand, enlightened self-interest sees the true good of the individual as promoting the good of the whole, and the good of the whole as promoting the good of the individual.

This is called Theory Z is management. See Abraham Maslow's Theory Z. It was proposed by Maslow and later developed by Ouchi, who added elements of McGregor's Theory Y and ideas of Deming and Drucker.

BTW, this is similar to the 'management style" of many so-called primitive tribes, and it is the management style that anarcho-communitarians seek to re-establish, where freedom is neither freedom from constraint, or freedom to choose, but rather freedom for self-actualization. It is basically the thrust to reassert the sacred view of the humanity and the world in replacement of the profane view as dominant. See Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane.

Way over people like Paul Ryan's head. He is still back in high school. Peter Pan-ism?

"It's really not a matter of "reason" as Rand claims, in the name of Aristotle. Aristotle's Ethics as well as his views about human nature are also opposed to Rand's views."

Right Tom, Apostle Paul (and btw this kills me that this moron Ryan is f-ing NAMED after the Apostle Paul and yet Ryan remains still clueless, I may never come to understand this) knew this... and (I guess) tried to tell the ecclesia of Christ Jesus this here imo:

"14 For whenever they of the nations that have no law, by nature may be doing that which the law demands, these, having no law, are a law to themselves,15 who are displaying the action of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying together and their reckonings between one another, accusing or defending them,16 in the day when God will be judging the hidden things of humanity, according to my evangel, through Jesus Christ."

What a blind moron Ryan has been made, what a disgrace... sad for him, thankful for us we are not that way ... rsp